The culmination of the Curse of the Crimson Throne and my Homebrew follow-up campaign

[dellanx]

I have been dreading this session, but it was sublime. The culmination of the Curse of the Crimson Throne and my Homebrew follow-up campaign more than 202 session, the real campaign just begins:
Session 102: The origins of Curse of the Crimson Throne Revealed

Just a bit later on Toilday, 7th Rova, 4709 AR2, Runelord Sorshen was still bleeding, she was very unhappy about the outcome of the whole battle and told her assailants that “You will pay for their actions!” One of her maidens was asleep for now, and the other had just been frozen in a block of ice, buy her upstart look-alike the unhappy Queen of Korvosa, but I guess she had cause. Only eight and a half months ago had not Yag Unark sacrificed the poor woman to bring the Mastaba-Vampire’s Runelord back? Sorshen had no delusions where this encounter would lead, if she could only bring herself to escape? No! That would only find her, better here and now. She would not make it easy for them, that one they call Venarius he is certainly cute, will it be him? She saw Alexander frozen by her spell, she heard from Lorthact when he was alive that that one was a bit of a prude, new Royalty or something to do with his wife not being able to bare an Heir, she snorted to herself. Then too quick for anyone to notice she teleported to the other side of the room, and brought a prismatic wall into existence that separated her almost totally, it lacked at least 20 feet to the ceiling and 5 feet to the southern wall, but it would delay them.

Venarius rushed through the opaque wall, as he passed it he saw multicolored plane of light assault him. He had no problems breaching the red one, but the orange one he took straight on and took acid damage! The yellow one he dodged, only to die from poison, but before he could drop to the ground the Sihedron came to his rescue from Yovan and brought him back to life as if he never died. The green wall did not work on him, and the blue one did not turn him to stone. The indigo wall did not seem to bother him, and nothing happened when he breached the violet wall and saw Runelord Sorshen. She would pay for every hurt she brought his wife over the 10,000 years she spent in the Lady of Light trapped and unable to leave. His wife blamed Ayandamahla blamed the Runelord for the death of her dimwitted daughter, the alu-demon Ashamintallu. Venarius hoped that he could comfort his wife by presenting her with Runelord Sorshen’s head, but instead he said to the Runelord “why don’t you just give up and surrender!” Something in him still wanted to give her quarter; he was after all the Herald of Calistria and not a barbarian, although he wondered how Crimson would react if he spared this vile bitch. How could something so beautiful be so heartless? With that thought his whip struck out at her and he missed.

Soon Crimson was there flanking Runelord Sorshen, she remembered back over 11,000 years to the days when she was Sorshen’s lover and assassin, how could she do the things she did to her! She would harden her heart, she saw that her whip had done grievous damage to Sorshen, and the Runelord was bleeding. She thought “Good, she deserves it!” She was now flanking Venarius. Then the unthinkable happened, Runelord Sorshen was gone from her site.
She appeared east of Vehsurae and cast a Tsunami that tumbled her enemies away from her, respite, brief respite, until the one they called Lelani the devout cleric of Sarenrae, managed to dispel her beautiful wave, the only thing that possibly stood between Galorian and total disaster. Then the girl-like Vehsurae cast a dimensional anchor spell on her that she was able to counter spell, but the vile sorceress cast that spell again and anchored her to the spot dooming everyone? She Sorshen did not fear diying, but she feared Xin’s prophesy. Then Venarius and Crimson materialized near her, she was glad that Crimson was still as beautiful as she remembered her.

The little girl’s magic missile struck her, she should have cast shield on herself before this started. Then their Queen Yovan cast a magic missile at her. Sorshen rely felt sorry for that one, the Queen of Korvosa did not look happy at all. She Sorshen should apologize to her for the actions of her minions? No she thought, they would never accept her word. She saw the Astral Deva and King Alexander stir, she should rely examine the strength of her enchantments, she mused.

Sorshen looked at Venarius, behind her she saw Crimson, her loyal Crimson, so much pain on her ageless face, all that hate. If only Queen Ileosa Arabasti’s meddling with the Everdawn Pool did not stir Eli Temorast, her loyal and mad vampire to action that will doom Galorian? Not far away was Shyrg, something was different about her? Did I not instruct her not to revive me under any circumstances? Perhaps, 10,000 years is too long of a time even for a vampire? She hopped that her enemies eliminated the mad Yag Unark, gnoll vampire cleric of an Old religion, cursed be her name! Feeling extremely nihilistic, she moved away from Venarius and Crimson, and her Ayandamahla, the Crimson Lotus, the loyal succubus that she so grievously had to betray for her own good and well being, flicked her whip and brought her low. It was over she was dying, maybe she would die, maybe the prophesy would not come true. Please, please let it be so. She would give anything to die here and now, let them ho home victors and profane her name for all eternity! She prayed to goods she never reached out too, but the harm was too deep, and the spiteful Yag Unark and the fool Eli Temorast succeeded.

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[dellanx]

Far, Far Away

You see Runelord Sorshen die, and then a contingency spell goes off, her body heals, but something goes wrong. The stars start moving, faster and faster. Your bodies stretch into lines of light and fly through the multi-verse at unimaginable speeds, while many lines of darkness fly towards Golarion. You see Queen Yovan’s and Sorshen’s threads intertwine as your threads fly through the void.

Then you glimpse what must be a vision of the past. Sorshen as a young girl swimming in the Arcadian Ocean, it is a nice day, and then it is time to go back to the Alghollthus slave pits. Drudgery, days and days go by; no one cares or loves a lone Azlanti orphan. More drudgery, one day same as another, then an uprising led by a young man named Xin, he inspired the separatists and her. Victory!

She met Xin, he taught her that the "lesser races" of the world could rival Azlant's greatness! He became a powerful mage, and then he led her and others like her to Thassilonia (modern day Verisia). They were cast out due to his beliefs.
Prosperity and success, Thassilonia the land of milk and honey, Xin delegates parts of his new realm to Sorshen and the other Runelords, to rule over in his name. Sorshen created the first runewells, after having discovered, studied, and reverse-engineered the Everdawn Pool. She saw in the pool, and resented Xin’s prophetic words. She believed, that it could not be true, he had to die before he uttered the prophetic words. She shared the secret of the Eversawn Pool with the other runelords, a decision which she would later regret, before she and the others runelords, betrayed and assassinated Xin he made the prophesy of the dooming of Galorian long after the Earthfall. As King Xin died, he shared a prophetic utterance witnessed by the entire palace including Aulthun, before she slipped out of the doomed structure, “Sorshen once you leave Galorian, if you return all will end, the Others inexplicably Old Race of Star Spawn like creatures, untold horrors of the Great Old Ones will invade.”
To prepare for the incoming Earthfall and the destruction of Thassilon, Sorshen used her runewell to create the Eye of Desire, a demiplane where she could hide from the cataclysm, in secret vaults guarded by clans of loyal vampires deep beneath Xin-Eurythnia. These vaults were an elaborate puzzle designed to siphon blood from exotic creatures that would be used to slowly reawaken Sorshen, but before going to sleep Sorshen sabotaged the device. The future horror was averted. The danger had passed, but she never stirred. She instructed her vampires to protect her corpse and never allow her return, but Eli Temorast did not believe her mistresses words. He ignored of the prophesy, and he seeking Sorshen’s return. In a great battle against the other vampires, he was destroyed, at least 800 years before Queen Ileosa’s arrival in Korvosa. The battle was not without its victims, her loyal vampires went mad and forgot her instructions. Almost a failure, Eli the only sane vampire was saved by the corrupted Yug Unark, a worshiper of the Great Old Ones, together they invaded Sorshen’s Mastaba. Not until the death of Queen Ileosa, did Eli Temorast and Yag Unark re-discovered the ritual to bring Runelord Sorshen back to life. They sacrifice Queen Yovan to a horrible god that slept in a city that should not be named. They placed Sorshen’s body into a ritual tub, filled with the potent blood eight recently slain mythic magical beasts, infused with the ashes of ritually sacrificed Queen Yovan Porphyria of Korvosa. They suspected that the young queen had recently conceived, this and the fact that she answered the an ancestral all, allowing her to enter Sorshen’s Mastaba pleased her tormentors and the Great Old Ones. Her body burnt to ash, and added to the magical blood brought their mistress to life, Sorshen’s eyes opened and she screamed.

Almost insane from the knowledge that her return would bring the end to the world she once loved, she decides to commits evil to avoid a greater evil. She made a pact with Lorthact, and the renegade drow house to prevent a fate worse than death. Her alliances and her “Life Form” simulacrums are not enough, the unthinkable happened! Somehow they found her, it has come to true, what horror, her foolish vampires and they unleashed the end of Golarian, unless.
The Gods’ madman found her and killed her, there is still hope! Yovan scream, Sorshen screams, thin lines of light traveling through space are Alexander King of Korvosa, Veshurae his friend, Lelani of Sarenrae, Venarius Herald of Celistria and his wives Crimson and Shyrg, madmen and madwomen all. Yovan’s and Runelord Sorshen’s threads are wound around each other until they merge into one thread of light with two colors. They are transported far from Golarion, past them stream dark lines toward Golarion, dread.

The threads of light materialize into one extremely beautiful woman filled with grief and pain, Sorshen and Yovan scream from one mouth. The heroes bodies became material simultaneously, you are standing in a place, with bizarre architecture, a coast-line of mingled with mud, ooze, and weedy cyclopean masonry which can be nothing less than the tangible substance of this world's supreme terror—the nightmare corpse-city. Sorshen and Yovan scream with one mouth as the Star Spawn attack the group.

Reality clears and you see yourselves staring at a malefic landscape of ancient hills, pathways and structures rising above mires of noxious slime. The surface is strewn with pits filled with foul fumes and sickly greenish waters.
Sorshen looks uncomfortable: The day my minion sacrificed your wife to bring me back, it must have been the worst day of your life, but for me was just the first Tuesday. I realized on that day, that I was alive once more without my consent, that I was being given a chance to live once more, and that my enemies would seek vengeance that may bring about doom to the whole world. I had no way to explain it to you, I did not speak your language, and even if I could would you have believed me? Hoping for the best, I tried to stop you. As the allies question her feeling uncomfortable as they were doing it, Colour Out Of Space attack them all.
They were creatures of eerie radiance, they glowed unlike anything else, and suddenly the area was suffused, bringing with it a stifling sense of latent malignancy. Even though they knew they were far away from Galorian, in a place of madness and insanity, it was like a weight was lifted from them. They wanted Yovan and Sorshen separated, but had no way to do it. They fought the radiant creatures, needing to destroy them so they may find a suitable place to rest. They found that the amorphous things were incorporeal and could be harmed by weapon, electricity and force. Light and disintegration also harmed them as Vehsurae and Lelani learned quickly. These things were truly alien, and soon they were quit dead.

Then Shyrg conjured a Fairy Ring Retreat, a ring of mushrooms, then she stepped up and opened the door for the others, even Sorshen, they entered an extradimensional meadow and shut the door behind them. They ate and rested, while discussing their predicament. It was clear that Galorian had been invaded, this was a tragedy. They could not think of any method of means to separate Yovan and Sorshen that was safe to do, every great magic would most likely be perverted by the ageless evil malevolence of this place.

Sorshen subsided and Yovan was greeted by her husband, she was bitter and answered his comforting embrace with rebuking utterances “I tried to be a good soldier, I tried to make you proud. Then she sobbed.” Alexander just held her.
It was clear that Sorshen the teary eyed woman was no longer a Runelord, they talked long and quietly – only one path was clear they could not retreat, but finally sleep took them [To be Continued….].